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President Obama is continuing to push the Volcker Rule to ban prop trading by banks. My sources give me no indication this has a realistic chance of happening. Certainly none of the key members — Dodd, Shelby, Corker, Warner — have warmed to it. So why is Obama pushing it, then? Hey, it is about the only part of his agenda with any popular support. Certainly not healthcare or cap-and-trade or the stimulus. Anti-Wall Street populism works, so more anti-Wall Street populism we will get. This is also why the GOP wants to pass a financial reform bill. It deprives Dems of a political weapon that plays on the stereotype of Republicans as the Party of the Rich.